Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) (Hanover, MD) announced that the Illinois Fiber Resources Group (iFiber) is deploying the company's converged packet optical and packet networking platforms throughout its regional fiber-optic network in northwestern Illinois. The deployment will provide community anchor institutions in previously underserved locations with advanced Ethernet service delivery and a cost-effective means to transport high-speed data services at speeds of up to 100G and beyond.
“With iFiber, we intend to bring economic development and information exchange to businesses, community anchors and residents in northern Illinois at speeds not possible with the existing infrastructure," says John L. Lewis, chairman of the Board of Directors, iFiber. "Ciena has been a key contributor to this project from the onset, providing communications infrastructure design and consultation services, as well as a full suite of 100G coherent optical transport and packet networking capabilities that allow us to meet the needs of underserved cities, counties and commercial entities throughout the region.”
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iFiber was developed by a coalition of local government, university and not-for-profit organizations to address the issue of limited broadband capacity, speed and service in nine counties of northwest Illinois. The iFiber network will serve up to 533 anchor institutions including 80 public safety entities and 100 government facilities. Additionally, many local Internet providers have plans to interconnect with the network to enhance broadband services for households and businesses.
Funded through a Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) infrastructure grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the iFiber network will provide broadband access to eligible public sector organizations such as schools, libraries, health care organizations, municipalities, county and public safety facilities. Through iFiber's service provider partners it will also deliver high-speed network transport services to businesses and residential subscribers in the private sector.
iFiber will deploy Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform equipped with WaveLogic Coherent Optical Processors, and its 4200 Advanced Services Platform to provide ultra-high bandwidth services throughout its entire network. The solutions will be configured in a 100G metro ring to ensure multi-site connectivity with capacity to handle data growth.
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Ciena’s packet networking solutions, including its 5410 Service Aggregation Switch, and recently MEF CE2.0-certified 5150 Service Aggregation Switch and 3916 Service Delivery Switch, will provide aggregation and delivery of broadband services to iFiber customers with industry-leading scalability and protection of services. With MEF CE2.0 certified solutions, iFiber can deliver standardized, predictable and easily managed classes of service for applications such as 4G wireless backhaul, cloud-access and last mile broadband service provider access.
Ciena’s OneControl Unified Management System will provide comprehensive control and visualization of the deployed optical transport and packet networking elements for seamless multi-layer end-to-end service activation and accurate resource utilization tracking. Ciena is also providing iFiber with a range of professional services for this deployment via its Ciena Specialist Services portfolio, including installation, turn-up and testing.
“iFiber is a great example of government, education and the private sector coming together to bring broadband connectivity and economic opportunity to their local communities," comments Chad Whalen, vice president and general manager, North America field operations. "CienaTechnology LeadershipCiena’s converged packet optical and packet networking solutions, both key elements of our OPn network architecture approach, give iFiber a reliable high-speed network with a 100 Gigabit core, 40 Gigabit aggregation layer and the ability to offer Gigabit Ethernet services to ensure its customers have greater access to broadband connectivity.”
For more information visit http://www.ifiber.org/ifiber/ and www.ciena.com.
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